Love for a beast
by painted heart
Summary: This story is about the lost Troll Queen of king Relish, the story of how he met her and how he came to be with three children. But then what happened to her, she disappears for over fifteen years in their world, but in another world it has only been five years, please R R is better then sounds
1. Chapter 1

Love for a beast

Daphne POV

Come on…do your rounds…come and see that I'm not in my cell…Finally!

I finally hear the guards walking towards my cell door,

"What the hell! Where is she!" he shouts, I hear the keys being taken from his belt and into the door, I smirk at this, looking down from where I'm perched on the rafters above the door using the two corners as leverage, then as soon as he enters the room, I drop my bag of sleeping dust I made onto his head and not five seconds later he falls flat on his face, I smirk at this, happy that my plan worked.

Gracefully I drop down and land beside him in a crouch and grab his keys that he had in his hand.

"Guess I am getting out of here after all" I say to him still with my wide smile on since he had told me since day one of being here that I would be staying here for life, I didn't think so then, and I don't now.

Oh gosh sorry, I forgot to introduce myself with all this going on, I'm Daphne. I am part fairy, part human with a little bit of a witch inside somewhere, making me a five foot seven in height, the body of a human that I keep slim with nice hips and curves. My black hair going down to my elbows that has pink streams in it, and my moss green eyes.

My parents died when I was very young and I was raised in the enchanted woods by fairies and nymphs. I am also twenty-two years old, but I got caught using some magic around humans and the villagers thought I was an evil witch who wanted to kill them all.

So they sent me here to Snow Whites memorial prison, its almost brand new. But the guards are so predictable, I've been here for three months and I learned their routines and schedules, this is how I knew that this guy would be coming on his own on this day, while the others go to their breaks.

I lock the door behind me after I leave the cell after putting the guard on the bed and covering him with the blanket there to make it look like I am still in there in case any other guards come walking past.

I guess I'll have to go back to the woods, that's really the best place for me really, for some reason people get an odd vibe off me, making them think twice about me, I don't do it on purpose! I suppose it's the witchy part of me.

I walk along the corridors, trying to find the right way out, seeing that I was apparently not only put in a private cell but also in a private part of the prison, must have thought me dangerous, well they could do with updating their security.

I round a corner and begin to walk down the next corridor until I start to hear banging, I look to my left where I hear it and see another private area.

Curiously I walk towards the cell door. Still hearing the banging coming from the cell, I peek through the tiny window door to see…a troll? Who looks roughly twenty-two maybe twenty-three? Dark black hair to his shoulders, blue eyes, good build, honestly he looks really handsome to me, I don't know why people think trolls are ugly, I think he's looks nice. Wonder why he is here, maybe he destroyed a town or something.

I smile mischievously, another way to pay the warden back for being brought here against my wishes.

"Hey" I say silently to him so as not to startle him, but loud enough for him to hear me, and as soon as he hears me he looks up at me at the same time as he stops banging against the barred window. I tilt my head looking at him still, he has a few bruises on his face, probably from when resisting arrest I would assume, trolls don't go down without a fight, which I very much respect.

"Who are you?" he asks, frowning at me after looking at me for a few minutes, I smile at him from this, him now turning his whole body at me now,

"Your escape, that is if you want to escape, either that or your trying to learn to make music with those bars" I say, still with my head tilted, he looks at me for a few minutes, then nods coming over to the door. With this I use the keys to open his door.

"You didn't answer my question," he says after I've opened the door but he doesn't walk out, only looking at me in question, I smile at him for this,

"My names Daphne, now we need to go now before the guards finish their lunch" I say, he nods at this and we start to run round the corner and down the hallways, after rounding a few corners we find ourselves looking down the hallway cells with prisoners on either the sides, I smirk at the troll for this, who seems to catch on to what I'm thinking, then we begin letting them out which they all seem very happy about, can't say I blame them, been here for long enough and I'm already loving the freedom.

They all then leave as soon as possible, they probably wont get past the guard but its more work for them hehe.

"Do you know where you are going?" the troll asks me from behind after we started running again in the opposite direction of the other prisoners, they'll hopefully bide us some time, I nod at this hoping that he sees as I am concentrating on where I am going from memory.

Finally we end up at the large bay window, I smile at this, and thankful that I remembered where it was from the days when I cleaned it.

"What is this? You told me that we were escaping!" he shouts, I look at him, looking at him as if he spoke a bad joke,

"There is no way out through the back door, or the front, only through here, outside is the stables, which has an exit that would lead us out of here" I say, he looks at me confused, from this I roll my eyes in annoyance, I grab his hand and lead him over to the window, seeing him looking at me shocked, huh I guess he's not used to being manhandled.

I open the windows and using all my strength I push him out, hearing his yell obviously from the shock at being pushed out, I laugh at the look on his face when he lands on the haystack, obviously not expecting a soft landing.


	2. Chapter 2

Relish POV

I cannot believe she pushed me out of a window! I could have died! I am the crowned prince of trolls and she nearly pushed me out of a window!

I feel a sudden weight beside me from where she's just landed from jumping down, and just from looking at that smile on her face my anger disappears.

When I first saw her I thought she was human, but after looking at her more properly I see quite a few traits of creatures in her, human, fairy and something else, she is…stunning, wearing a short grey skirt that goes above her knees that's got holes and torn pieces showing her labour in this cursed place and possibly before. She's wearing brown leather boots that go above her knees and a single sleeved brown top that I see has slight leather armour around her top torso. Her black hair looks beautiful even with it being dirty and probably in need of a wash, and the pink streams running through it make her look more beautiful and unique, and her eyes…they are enchanting.

"Come on, we need to go before the guards notice us not amongst those other prisoners" she says, now scooting off the haystack, I shake my head to clear my thoughts of her and follow her, getting off the haystack in time to see her pulling a horse out of its paddock, it has its reigns on but no saddle, but that's no problem for me, I'm used to riding without a saddle, you have to be prepared for anything when you're a troll.

"Come on, you'll have to go in front, I cant ride horses" she says, looking at me, I nod at this then climb onto the horses back, then after I take the horses reigns I hold my hand out for her, which she smiles at and grabs hold of, allowing me to pull her onto the horse behind me. As soon as I feel her hands on my shoulders, I kick the horses sides and we head to the stable doors, finding it open. This may actually work.

"There they are!"

I look behind me slightly seeing at the corner of my eye that Daphne is too, and we see guards on horseback galloping towards us, at this I kick the horses sides harder urging it to go faster, I'm heading in the direction of the Troll kingdom, we'll be safe there, and thankfully its not too far.

"They're getting closer!" she shouts, I turn my head slightly to see that she's telling the truth, and what's worse is a few of them have crossbows on them.

"Duck!" I shout as I see one of the guards aim his at us, and just as we do I hear the sound of an arrow flying above my head.

"Just keep looking forward" she says, then with this I nod and urge the horse to go faster, I don't feel anymore arrows coming at us, which confuses me, since there are three guards with crossbows on them and we are escapees, why aren't they shouting at us?

And to see for myself why, I look back slightly only to see something I definitely didn't expect…a shield, only not a solid one, a magical one, with many colours surrounding our rear, blocking the arrows attacks,

"Where did that come from!?" I shout, still staring at the magical force, is there a sorcerer nearby or a witch?

"Me"

I look to Daphne behind me and see her with a concentrated look on her face, her face looking up to the sky, she really is doing it, I can see an almost thread connecting her to the shield.

I look forward in time to see a log coming up,

"Hold on tight!" I shout, getting the horse ready for the jump, and when it comes I hear a surprised gasp from behind me followed by a pained gasp. And just in time I feel her slipping side-ways behind me, I look in time to see her about to fall off the horse when I quickly grab her, seeing her still stunned look on her face. What happened to her?

But my question is answered before laying her on the horse in front of me, when I see an arrow in her back.

"Sucken elf!" I swear, then kicking the horse further, seeing that we are at the edge of bean country. Hopefully there will be Troll guards around.

"Hang on! We're almost there!" I shout, hearing the guards still behind us, I look behind me slightly to see that they are very close to us, and I see them aiming again.

I brace myself for the impacts I know I'm about to receive, but after a few minutes, I look back again to see that that shield is there again behind me. I look down to Daphne to see her holding her arm out towards the shield, creating the thread.

"Your using too much energy for this, you'll die if you keep this going" I say, trying to get her to stop, knowing that using her magic will use up her energy and in this case her life source, when an injured witch or any other being is injured they rarely use their magic unless in dire need as it sucks the life out of them, making them more tired and prone to die quicker.

"If I stop…you'll die" she gasps, I look at her for a few seconds contemplating her words, why would she care if I die?

Banishing this thought for now, I look forward in the distance seeing members of my guard approaching,

"Defend your prince!" I shout, seeing that they heard me and they must have seen the guards behind me as they aim their own crossbows at the guards behind me and I see arrows flying past me and I hear loud grunts and thuds, telling me that they hit their marks.

"Prince Relish!" shout the men, but I ignore them and carry on to the citadel, needing to get help for Daphne.

"Just hold on, ok? Just hold on," I say silently to her, finally seeing the citadel through the trees.

I wont let her die, if it wasn't for her I would still be in that prison, and she saved me several times from those guards, risking her life for me. And I will re-pay her for this.


	3. Chapter 3

Relish POV

We had managed to get to the castle in good time, I took Daphne straight to the healer where she has been for over three hours now. I'm stood outside the room waiting, wanting to know if she will live. I have to say, I would truly be disheartened if she doesn't, she saved my life, I owe her my life for all she has done.

I then finally see the door open to see our doctor coming out,

"The arrow luckily missed anything vital, I've managed to get it out, there was some excessive bleeding, but its stopped. I've wrapped her up, she mustn't walk for a few days, or else the stitches will come out" he says, I nod at this,

"Does your father know you brought this…female here" he asks, I look to him then and shake my head, having not left this corridor,

"Perhaps it wise to see him after talking with her. She has been asking for you" he says, I nod at this, then I walk into the room to see her lying on her side on one of the patients beds, covered in a fur blanket to keep warm.

Her eyes meet mine and she smiles, I can't help but smile back, its contagious her smile,

"Your ok" she says silently, from this I walk to her side so we can speak to one another easier and nod in answering her, myself feeling all the tension previous melting and feeling at complete peace while being near this woman, how does she do this?

"Where am I?" she asks, looking around the room slightly in question,

"Your in the Troll Kingdom, my fathers castle" I say, he looks at me confused but then smiles,

"So I rescued the troll prince," she says grinning, I laugh slightly at this,

"Yes, and I am eternally grateful, especially from using your magic to stop those arrows" I say, she smiles at this, her eyes though going down to the floor as if thinking, she looks confused for some moments then smiles slightly,

"I've never been thanked for using magic, the reason why I was at the memorial, was because I saved a child from being ran over by a carriage - with magic, but the villagers saw this, and rather then thank me, they threw me into a cell and sent for the prison guards to collect me" she says, looking down at the memory I assume,

"Magic is not banned here, as long as you do not mean to harm us with it, then you and your gifts are safe here. I thought there was something odd about you. You look human, but also look fairy. However I did have that feeling that there was something else, I guess that's the witch in you," I say, she smiles at this and nods.

"The doctor told me that you will be fine, just need to rest for some days so you don't break the stitches" I say, she nods at this smiling,

"Thank you for helping me" she says, I smile at this and nod.

"What is your name?" she asks, looking at me in question,

"My name is Relish, prince of the Troll kingdom," I say, bowing slightly which causes her to giggle.

"Where will you go? After you're healed?" I ask curiously. She looks down at this, I see conflict in her eyes,

"I cant go anywhere else but back into the enchanted forest, no-where else will accept me for who I am, trust me I've tried going other places" she says, I frown at this,

"I accept you, and so would this kingdom" I say, she smiles gently at this,

"Y-you could stay here for a while – after you're healed." I say, unbelievably stuttering at trying to get her to stay. I cant understand why, but I cant not be away from her, I couldn't even leave to go see my father to inform him that I had returned, I felt lost being away from her.

Could it be possible that she has cast a spell on me?

"I would be very grateful for that, thank you prince Relish, I've never been to the troll kingdom before" she says, I smile at this, thankful she will stay, this way I can work out what is happening to me.

"Relish!"

I groan from this, hearing my father's boots coming towards this room. Then we both see him come into the room,

"Where have you been?" he asks, looking at me, his eyes shifting to Daphne, then back to me,

"I got caught setting fire to that village with our raid. They found out who I was when I got cornered trying to escape. They sent me to Snow White Memorial prison. Daphne helped me get out. But she got shot while we were coming here, so she's resting" I explain.

He nods in understanding, and then he looks to Daphne,

"You have my thanks, and please, stay as long as you would like, you are our honoured guest. When you are well we shall honour you with feast" he says, I see Daphne blush at this and nod in thanks.

"Daphne would you be more comfortable in your own room? We have some that would be far warmer and you wont have other visitors coming in and disturbing your rest" I say, she smiles brightly at this, the thought of her own room seems to appeal to her,

"Yes please" she says, I nod at this, then after tucking the fur blanket around her after learning that she has no other clothing on, I very gently hold her up in my arms, careful not to stretch her body in any way in case of accidentally pulling the stitches,

"So Daphne, where are you from?" asks my father as we begin walking along the corridors,

"The enchanted forest, but I left there some years ago" she says, smiling at the king, her gentle yet happy personality is certainly different to what I am used to, whenever I am around females they are either repulsed by me, or hardly ever smile.

"Why did you leave?" he asks, she's silent after this, I look down at her from this seeing her looking down with what I can only tell as worry and fear,

"I could not stay anymore, something strange is happening in that forest, I'm not sure when it happened, but…there's a darkness that's planted itself in there. I did not like it, so I left" she says, I look to my father who I see is looking at me with questions on his mind, I don't blame him, there are a few on my mind, I wonder what may be happening in the forest.


	4. Chapter 4

Daphne POV

"And here we are. I hope you like it" says the king, who opens a door in front of us, when we enter I smile at my surroundings; the queen-sized bed is draped in animal fur that looks unbelievably comfortable and warm. There is simple furniture around, a bedside table, a chest of drawers and a table with two chairs by the big window and the floor is almost completely covered in furs.

"Its great" I say, as Relish walks us over to the bed and lowers me down onto the bed, pulling a throw over me as well, I smile up at him in thanks.

"Now I am going to go and inform the clan what has happened. Get your rest Daphne, I want to see what you are made of and soon" he says then leaves the room, I stare at him with confusion,

"What did he mean by what I'm made of?" I ask, looking to Relish, he cocks his head to the side with a slight grin,

"It's my dads way of seeing what people are like. He'll convince you into doing the challenge of honour. Its what all trolls do at an age to prove themselves worthy of being in his kingdom" he says, I look at him curiously when he explains all this, having brought one of the chairs over to the side of the bed so we can sit and chat comfortably,

"What happens to those who don't win?" I ask, looking to him in question,

"They…get put into the stockades for a month. And the kingdom would come throughout that month and throw their un-used foods at you" he says with a sheepish look, I roll my eyes at this,

"Did you get put in the stocks?" I ask, though I kind of already know the answer,

"Absolutely not!" he laughs slightly,

"So what do you do in these challenges?" I ask curiously, he shrugs at this.

"Usually it's a fight, has been for many years, it was for me, I cant imagine what else it would be for you, but then with you being different they may change it" he says, I nod at this, I wont be in too much trouble, I'm good at fighting, I was taught how to fight since I was five.

"Could you perhaps do me a favour?" I ask, he looks at me directly from this, straightening his back; you would think I was about to send him to do a very honourable quest or something,

"Could you talk to the king and ask him to not change the tradition, I want to show that I can be accepted in this kingdom, without any special treatment" I say, he grins broadly from this, perhaps this has pleased him, I'm not completely sure why but I like making him smile and laugh.

"I will see to it right away" he says, then stands and leaves the room….

Wait No!

My eyes opening, blurry from sleep, focusing first on my crystal decorated ceiling light, and the plain boring white painted ceiling.

I sit up from bed, looking around my small bedroom, my personal possessions making this boring room actually have character, my best friend Virginia and her father Tony are the ones I live with. This room I live in was Virginias study room when she was in school but she gave it to me when I moved in with them.

Ever since I can remember I have had these dreams, like the one I unfortunately just awoke from.

That world…it always seems so real, it always feels more like a memory than a dream, but that's impossible, magic and creatures like those of my dreams don't exist in this world.

Unfortunately.

I look to my clock and see that I have an hour and a half to get ready and be going to work. Quickly I start getting dressed into my black leggings with a small black skirt that comes some inches above my knee that is also split at the sides, which I decorated at the corners of the sides with hanging silver gems. As you can probably tell I am quite creative, especially when it comes to crystals and jewellery.

My long sleeved black top and my see-through lacy white sleeveless top, some black leather boots that go a few inches above my ankles with buckles.

I also have my pendant, I've had it since Virginia found me. You see it was four years ago today that I was found in the city park, wearing tattered clothes and this clear crystal necklace and a brown leather wrist band, I smile as I look at it on my right wrist, I never take it off, it's a little too big but it rests nicely on my wrist after I tightened the strap to fit my small wrist. I sometimes wonder if maybe before I lost my memory that I had a boyfriend or something and they gave this to me as it is more of a mans wrist band, it has an insignia on it made of silver and gold, the insignia is of a castle but no one has ever found anything related to it when I took it to places that know of historical signs and family crests, but they never found anything.

I get my hand bag and walk out of my room, not surprisingly finding Virginia looking out the window to the park, she loves looking out that view, she'll love to know about my newest dream, but I better knock her out of her current daydream.

"Hey Virginia" I say, grabbing an orange juice carton from the fridge, hearing her intake of breath at my appearance,

"Hey Daphne, is it that time already?" she asks, I smile at her and nod after gulping down the rest of my orange juice,

"I had a new dream, I know how I met Relish now" I say smirking at her excited look at the mention of this, I've told her every one of my dreams, its considered odd that every one of my dreams seem to continue like a story or a film, but I like them, so I never complain,

"So? How did you meet him?" she asks, both of us grabbing our coats after she puts Tony's food in the microwave,

"I helped him escape from a prison we were both in" I say, she smirks at this,

"So you were a criminal, that makes sense, especially for your bad boy" she says, I laugh at this, holding the door open for her as she walks her bike out with me holding onto my own, I walk out behind her after locking the door with my key.

"Hey girls, see look at this! Its been chewed! This is not my job – this is an electricians job, but who gets to do it?" Where are you going?" he asks us as we walk into the elevator with both our bikes, we mastered this talent a year ago, setting both our bikes up against the wall next to one another, but we keep a good hold of them so that they don't fall or mark the walls, and this way there is still room for others who come into the elevator.

"To work dad, like we do every day," says Virginia, I smirk at this, by now you would think that he knew where we went every evening and sometimes during the day for the past four years.

"Alright, but on the way back, use the stairs, just in case" he says, I nod at this, its not too bad taking the stairs with the bikes, but we get worried that we might accidently drop them and hit someone when coming up.

"You know what I'm starting to think? I'm starting to think that the kind people that run this country is guys like me, you know people who work for scraps, who do six jobs, basically bend over and take it…" at this point I kind of zone out, everyone but the manager of this place knows how much Tony works, he barely has a moment to himself, but me and Virginia do our best to help out with the money so he doesn't have to work so hard. And whenever I make some jewellery I put it towards rent to help out too, and if I make a good amount I treat us all for a drink or something.

"Your barbecue ribs are on the microwave," says Virginia, my eyes look to the doors when they open and the manager and his son come in, and as soon as he sees Tony he's on him like a pack of wolves on a lonely lamb,

"Tony, I have been calling this elevator for the past half hour, I thought you fixed it" he says, I glare lightly at this,

"Well I did sir but its broken again," says Tony, I swear this bully makes Tony look like a dog with his tail between his legs,

"Tony, I am only going to tell you this once, there is an awful lot of people out there who would love your job, an awful lot of people" he say, I'm sure my glare just intensified at this. Thankfully the doors open to the ground floor, quickly I walk out with my bike after him,

"Mr. Murray!" I say, catching him and his sons attention, good, maybe he will learn a lesson as well as his father,

"What do you want?" he asks, I glare at him for this,

"For one, a little bit more respect towards your customers in this building, if it wasn't for us, you wouldn't be able to afford the beeswax on yours and your sons head, and second, treat your staff better, you cant expect one person to fix this entire building with the cheap tools your giving him" I say, hearing slightly behind me that Virginia and Tony are speaking in hushed tones, fear in their voices of the possibility of being evicted because of what I am doing, well don't you two worry this guy wouldn't dare,

"How dare you talk to me, do you know who you are talking to? I could have you evicted from this building right this second!" he says, I smirk at this,

"I don't think you will" I say, he looks at me surprised and with hate in his eyes,

"And why exactly don't you think I would?" he asks,

"Because if you did, then you would also lose a hell of a lot more people in this building once they learn that what they think they are paying when they believe they are paying for their building tax, is in fact paying for your entire families mortgage.

I have seen the contract that you have with us, the very same that you have with everyone else in this building, that proves that you should be paying our building tax, but I also know that on investigation from the bank, that this building hasn't had any tax paid in over three years.

I also know that you are in debt and if your not careful, will lose this building. And that would happen a lot quicker with just a few words and a couple of pieces of paper. Now why don't you instead of threatening one mans job – which by the way – no one would take because of how you treat your staff and that the pay you promise does not exist, you owe a lot of people money , you really don't want to add more onto that list, especially if the governors learn that you are not paying ANY of your staff properly and just hiding it by giving them an apartment to live in for free.

Now I will say it again, treat your staff better and give people more respect. Do I make myself clear?" I ask, my eyes never leaving his gaze, but already seeing him sweating, the fear in his eyes and the shifting he keeps doing with his body stance, as well as the fear in his sons eyes too at being founded out.

He takes a deep breath and nods,

"My apologies, please have a good evening Miss Lewis," he says, I smile brightly at him for this,

"And please don't forget Tony's new tools" I say, he nods at this then finally turns away with his son, and almost runs away.

I turn around to see both Tony and Virginia staring at me open mouthed,

"Close your mouths before you get flies in them" I say, smirking, now seeing them grinning after closing their mouths,

"I'm still not too sure how, but I thank everything above that we found you and you joined this family" says Tony, I laugh as he gives me big bear hug which I return, and then Virginia gives me a hug too.

"See you later Tony," I say, both me and Virginia walking out of the lobby,

"I cannot believe you did that, how did you know about all that stuff?" she asks,

"Couple of visits to the local governors office and archives, you would not believe how much family Mr. Murray actually has, its no wonder he is in debt with paying for all of them, but at the same time, they should be paying for themselves, the poor guy doesn't even realise that his family is using him because of his business, to be honest I think its mostly from his wife's family, their in more debt then him" I say, she giggles at this, I've always been good at finding things,


	5. Chapter 5

Daphne POV

I watch Virginia as we cycle down the pathway in the forest, occasionally looking around the place as well, every day I look around, hoping to find a clue about where I came from, maybe signs that someone has come looking for me or maybe posters of me, but then again after all these years it would be a long shot.

I can even remember where I was found, the bend around the corner, Tony found me when he and Virginia were walking down this path way, said I was a bloody mess, my clothes torn…and well you know the rest.

Suddenly without looking in front of me which I should have been doing, I hear a crash and look just about in time to see myself crashing into Virginias bike and feeling myself flying and landing hard on the floor, only feeling a pain in the back of my head before it all goes black.

"Daphne, Daphne!"

I blink a few times at hearing Virginia shouting my name, blinking some more times until my vision goes from blurry to sharp again. I look at her finally to see her looking down at me worried, but then my eyes focus on her forehead where there's a cut that's bleeding,

"Virginia, your heads bleeding, are you alright?" I ask, hearing her sigh, helping me sit up, I take a deep breath feeling a little queasy at the sudden motion, I look around some to suddenly see in front of me a dog, looking right at me, ok that's a little un-nerving.

"I'm alright, but you have blood in your hear, I think you banged the back of your head" she says, I look to her from this, I touch my head, roaming backwards, suddenly hissing when I touch a sore spot, I look at my hand and indeed see blood.

"Damn, right well, there's a first aid kit at the restaurant. I'm guessing you ran into this fur ball" I say, inclining to the dog, jumping when it barks at me, I glare at it from this, never really liked dogs that well.

"Yeah, I swear he just ran out of no-where. I've checked him over, he seems alright but he doesn't have a collar" she says, I nod at this, letting her know I was listening

"Ok, well lets go" she says, I nod at this in agreement, I don't even want to know how late we are for work.

Carefully I get up, testing myself out for further injury, thankful that I don't find anything else hurt, must have just landed on my head ha!

I look to Virginia to see that she is standing all right. That's good, means I get to kick her butt for not looking where she was going.

I pick up my bike, finding that its tyres are bent in half, and I see that Virginias are the same, great that's going to cost us.

Stupid dog.

I start to lead the way, Virginia following after me until she's beside me, and the damn dog is following at her side,

"The boss isn't going to be happy with a dog in the restaurant" I say, us now out of the park, and seeing the dog is still walking with us, though on Virginias side, I don't mind this as I don't want to be near it anyway.

"I'll put him in the back and lock the door, can't have him wondering around and disturbing the customers" she says, I roll my eyes at this,

"You can't keep him hun, your dad wont be happy and its not something we can really afford right now" I say, trying to point facts out, beside the main one where I don't like dogs.

"I know, but I feel I'm responsible for him since I did run him over. And his owner wont exactly be happy either" she says, I shrug at this, opening the door to the back of the restaurant for her so we can put the bikes there, shutting the door behind me after she and the dog have gone in.

"And where have you two been? I've been covering you" says Daisy, I smile at her in thanks, going over to the first aid box, hearing Virginia telling her what happened. I get a wipe and begin the painful and stinging task of cleaning my wound, I'm surprised how much I bled to be honest, but am able to find where the blood is coming from and fit a bandage there, I'll just have to put my hair in a low ponytail so customers don't stare or laugh. I go over to Virginia while she and Daisy are fussing over the dog, I bring her head up to be facing me and wipe the blood off her head, seeing the close her eyes and a slight hiss from the antiseptic in the wipe, then after that's done I put a small plaster there, thankful that it wasn't too deep or too big.

"Suits you" I smirk, she playfully scowls at me as I put the first aid kit away, just hearing Daisy calling the dog 'Prince' oh yeah, fits well with his arrogant personality he seems to have.

I grab Virginia's aprons and mine and toss her hers, just walking outside to the customers, seeing at the corner of my eye Virginia putting the dog in the storage room.

I look around and ask Daisy whom she is going to, seeing her eyeing one of the customers, a dark haired man in REALLY rugged clothes, he looks like he's come out of a play,

"He's all yours," I say smirking at her, she winks at me from this, which leaves me with a couple on the other side of the seating area.

"Good evening, my name is Daphne I will be your waitress this evening. Can I take your drinks order?" I ask, getting my note pad and pen out when they nod, getting on with my job.

The couple were really nice, left me a nice tip, and it was nice seeing how romantic they were together, I hope one day I can find that.


	6. Chapter 6

Daphne POV

I must have only served three tables before I see Virginia coming out of the kitchen with the dog, I hurriedly walk over to her to see is she is ok,

"Virginia what's going on?" she asks, she suddenly hands me my handbag, I look at her confused from this, are we leaving? Because if we are we are so going to be in trouble with work later,

"I've already checked us out, we need to get out of here, I think we're in danger" she says, I frown at her for this which she sees,

"Please just do as I say, don't ask any questions, we need to go home now" she says, I can see how freaked out she is, so I nod and take my apron off and leave it at the desk and follow her and the dog out.

"Can you at least tell me what happened?" I ask, walking beside her, she seriously looks freaked,

"T-the dog wrote the word 'danger' in a load of spilt flour on the floor in the back room. And he barks when I tell him to, he's not just well trained he knows! And I think he knows something bad is happening, so I just needed to get out of there, not like he gave me much choice since he dragged me out of the back room" he says, I frown further at this, looking to the dog, who surprisingly looks to me then back to where we're walking.

"Ok hun, I believe you, but we can't let the dog into the apartment, there's only so much I can hold off the manager" I say, she nods at this,

"He's not coming inside" she says, I nod at this, thankful for this information, I'm still not too sure what it is about that dog but for some reason I don't like him.

"Ok this is us, you've gotta go" says Virginia as we get closer to the apartment block, I look to the dog and seeing it not even budge, great why can I see it coming inside switch us,

"Ok you can just stay one night and then your on your own understand" asks Virginia, who I see is…talking to the dog, but it surprised me when it barks at her as if replying to her,

"This is crazy, how can I be talking to a dog?" she asks, and again the dog barks a few times, ok this is starting to get a little freaky.

"Yes I am, don't try to re-assure me" she says, I look from the dog to Virginia and back; ok this is a little weird.

We walk into the lobby, quiet for the night especially on a weekend. We go towards the elevator but give up after five minutes,

"Must not have finished yet," I say, looking to Virginia, she nods in agreement and we go use the stairs, the dog following after us.

However my night is about to get stranger, when we get to our level we see a lot of pink dust on the floor,

"That's Mrs Greys from next door…her husband and her grandson Eric" says Virginia, looking at them confused, I kneel down by Mrs Greys, pressing two fingers against her neck, checking for a pulse, releasing a breath when I hear one,

"They're alive" I say after checking the other two, seeing Virginia walking over to our apartment front door, but my eyes widen when I see that the door is destroyed,

"Virginia be careful" I say, looking down at the dust, it looks quite familiar, I pinch a but in-between my fingers and rub it between them, seeing it falling, it has a slight sparkle to it, I lightly sniff it, I swear I know that smell!

"This looks like my powder…but that's a dream" I say, remembering the dust I used in my dream to make people fall asleep as soon as the person inhales even a little bit of it, it puts them straight to sleep…and it looks like its worked on these three, and their dog.

I stand up straight and go into the apartment, seeing Tony sat in his armchair with the dust on him as well, and the apartment itself is trashed, I see Virginia walking over towards her room, I quietly go to mine, but freeze seeing a woman in there, I watch her for a little after the initial shock, staying out of sight, seeing her looking at my crystals and some pictures I had up on the wall of me and Virginia and Tony,

"Mum?" she says, I frown at this, who does she think is her mum? She takes a picture from the wall, I think it's the one that Virginia took of me against one of the trees I marked. Her fingers touch the crystals I have on my dressers, but I look away towards Virginia, seeing the dog staying by the doorway, smart dog.

However I look in time to see the woman starting to walk towards the door where I am, now only seeing that in one of her arms is loaded with what looks like Tony's shoes, I look beside me into the bathroom, and quickly go inside, closing the door quietly and looking through the crack, unfortunately not seeing until last minute that Virginia is still in the living room,

" Hello there girly, these shoes – they've been very badly cared for, they – they're scoffed, cuffed and neglected" says the woman, gradually dropping the shoes on the floor, but then two men come out of Virginia's room holding her red shoes,

"You have nice shoes, and so tiny" says the biggest one, I frown at them for this, I swear this seems too familiar,

"We have hundreds of pairs at home" says the woman,

"So we know what we're talking about," says the smaller male.

"Who are you and what have you done to my dad?" asks Virginia, whom I see is looking at them scared, but I can watch them so if they try anything I'll be her back-up.

"Oh he's just sleeping, hit him with a bit of troll dust that all" says the older one, my eyes widen at this, troll dust? This is insane how do they know about all this stuff, they are in-acting my dream practically.

"I am Burly the troll, feared throughout the nine kingdoms" he says, I swear I feel like I am going to faint,

"I'm Blabberwort the toll, dreaded throughout the nine kingdoms" she says,

"And I am Bluebell the troll, terrified throughout the nine kingdom" says the younger one, I look away from this, trying to steady my breath, feeling tears start to build up.

But brining me out of this I hear a smash and look to see that the tv is smashed by Burly's axe,

"So where is he?" he asks, pointing it at Virginia,

"I-I don't know who your talking about" says Virginia,

"Prince Wendell" says Blabberwort, I from at this,

"Who?" asks Virginia, equally as confused as me,

"The dog!" shouts Blabberwort, pushing her into the other armchair, her shrieking at this,

"We are going to give to the count of three for you to tell us where he is, or else we are going to be turning you into a pair of shoes" says Blabberwort,

"One! I'll cut the shoes" says Burly, who has a pair of scissors out threatening at her, I frown at this, I carefully come out of the bathroom, with their backs to me they don't see me, but I go into my bedroom and go for my baseball bat I have under my bed, walking out of my bedroom seeing Bluebell with what looks like a thick needle pointing dangerously close to Virginia's eyes,

"Alright! All three of you step away from her" I say, with my bat aimed behind my head, ready to hit them if need me, they turn around to look at me but rather then be angry at me as I would have through they would with me with a weapon in hand, they seem to be…staring at me.

"Bl-Blabberort? Can you see her too?" asks Burly, I look at him confused, watching all three of them, seeing Virginia looking at them confused too,

"Yes…but – but its impossible" she says, her looking at every inch of me, as if checking or something,

"But it can! Remember the witch's words? What dad told us - she said that we would find her," says Bluebell, who looks to them then back at me,

"Alright look, you're trespassing, I want you out of this apartment right now, you've already made a mess in here, we don't want any trouble" I say, tightening my grip on the bat,

"We finally found you" says Blabberwort, I frown at her for this, seeing that they have put their instruments away,

"I've never seen any of you before in my life" I say,

"Y-yes you have, but we were a lot younger then" says Burly, looking at me with such innocence instead of how he looked earlier,

"I don't think so, I think I would remember you three" I say, truthfully I wouldn't be able to remember them even if I had met them before considering I don't remember a good deal of my life but I'm sure that I would have seen these three at the very least in my dreams,

"She said we would find you and we have" says Bluebell, looking at me happily, I frown at them for this,

"Who told you?" I ask, not letting my bat down,

"The witch, she said after she threw you through that portal that when you would finally come home would be when we found you, and we have" says Burly happily with a big smile, but I aim my bat higher threateningly,

"You're not taking me anywhere, I don't know who you are or what your doing here, but you need to leave right now" I say,

"Don't you recognise us at all? I mean I know we grew up but come on mum, you gotta remember us a little! What about dad? He'll be so happy to know you alive!" says Burly, I frown at this, and did they just call me mum? There's no way I am old enough to be their mother.

"Get out now!" I shout,

"No way are we leaving you here, we found you, and now we'll take you and the dog back to the nine kingdoms" says Blabberwort,

"Yeah girly where is the dog?" asks Bluebell, looking back to Virginia,

"Ok – ok, I'll tell you where he is! He's here he's outside" says Virginia, I look to the corner of my eye that the dog hides in Tony's room by the front door, but without warning Burly comes over to me, and just as I'm about to whack him he throws the pink dust at me, that's all I remember before seeing a lot of sparkly dust and falling to the floor…

"Daphne? Daphne come on you've gotta wake up!"

I open my eyes groggily, seeing Virginia knelt in front of me, the dog beside her,

"What happened, suddenly hearing a lot of banging, I look in the direction its coming from and see the elevator doors, why are they banging? Its giving me a headache,

"They threw that dust at you, but I tricked them into going into the elevator, come on we need to get out of here, dad will be alright, but I think it's the dog they're after" she says, helping me up, but I still feel really light headed,

"Ok" I say, but as soon as I've lost her support I feel like I'm about to fall before Virginia helps me by putting my arm around her shoulders with support,

"Ok! Come on lets get out of here, you must have a resistance or something to that dust, I tried waking dad but it didn't work, weird how it doesn't work so much with you" she says, I nod in agreement, although I really do wish I could sleep, and walking down all these damn stairs is an awful lot of working when feeling like this.

"How did you trick them into the elevator?" I ask, when we finally get to the lobby, starting to feel some strength in my legs but I don't dare relinquish Virginias help, knowing for sure that I will fall without her support,

"Told them that he was hiding in the "room" – elevator and when I got them in I told them I was activating the secret door when I was closing the door" she says, I smile at this and nod in understanding, she's always been a smart one, not always but is smart in tricky situations.

Thanks for reading, so there's the re-union, not exactly what the kids were expecting but there it is, look forward to your reviews and feedback


	7. Chapter 7

Daphne POV

"So what's the plan?" I ask, pretty sure that Virginia isn't just walking us around aimlessly around at night,

"We're going to grandmas, she's never turned us down for staying over for a night and I think you really need it" she says, I nod at this, I have never (as far as I remember) been in a more comfortable bed than Virginia's grandmothers guestroom bed.

"Virginia…I'm scared," I say, looking to her then back to where we're walking,

"Why? Because those people called you their mother?" she asks, I nod at this,

"That…and all the other stuff, you must have noticed some of the things they said, they were from my dreams, I mean 'the nine kingdoms', that pink dust, trolls! It's all from my dreams, but you and Tony are the only ones I have ever told about them," I say, looking to her worriedly,

"I really don't know, but we can find out, but not tonight" she says, I nod in agreement. I need to stop thinking about all this, as freaky and shocking and scary as it is, I can't do anything about it right now, not in my condition anyway.

Thankfully Virginia's grandmother doesn't live too far away and has a working elevator to my utter relief, and Virginia uses her key to get us inside, I just hope she doesn't mind the stray we've brought with us,

"Hello!" shouts Virginia, carefully helping me down the little stairs; I swear from this point forward stairs are my enemy!

"Who is it?" shouts her grandmother,

"Its only me grandma and Daphne" says Virginia, her stepping in first into her grandmothers bedroom, I don't like to go into peoples bedrooms without permission,

"Hi!" she says, I hear her grandmother telling her the usual 'I thought you were your mother speech' for crying out loud woman stop talking about your daughter and talk more about your granddaughter,

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, would you mind if we stayed the night tonight?" asks Virginia, brining me into the room, I smile at her grandmother, but she takes no notice of me, talking more about her daughter, I swear she loves to hear the sound of her own voice.

Then seeing the look of disgust when she see's the dog going onto the bed, worrying over him having fleas and hurting her beloved Roland.

I have to hide a smirk, yeah me and her have never gotten along, she thinks of me as a homeless home wrecker and using Tony and Virginia for their good nature, even with me putting money to the rent and even saving them a few times with the manager, walls are very thin in some places, but it is nice hearing Tony and Virginia sticking up for me when she goes off on one.

"Right well we could do with going to sleep, so we'll see you in the morning" says Virginia, I stoke the dogs head, it looking at me as if in surprise, and I incline for him to follow us and he does, I walk it into the guest room as Virginia finishes saying goodnight with her gran, though I know she will probably be in there for another half an hour with how her gran talks, she just said that earlier for me to escape,

"As long as you get on her nerves, we'll get along just fine" I say to the dog, half not believing that I am talking to the dog but also knowing that I am still too tired to really care.

He makes a noise that I swear sounds like a laugh as I take my jacket off and shoes, usually whenever me and Virginia stay over we share the bed in here anyway, I'm sure she wont mind if I go to sleep now.

The last thing I remember is stroking the dog's head when he lies beside me but still giving Virginia enough room when she joins us before entering sleep world.

I wake up suddenly to hearing a smash, I sit up quickly seeing that Virginia isn't in the bed but I can tell she did come to bed, the dog looking at the door whining, I look around, wishing I brought my baseball bat, but hurry out of the room in time to see Virginia running to the front door,

"Virginia?" I say, she hurries over to me and pulls me to her,

"Already put your mind at rest! Now that I've seen you, eating you is out of the question, not even on the menu"

I look behind me to see a man, hang on I've seen this guy before, wait he wants to eat her?

"I should damn well think so you wont eat her?" I say, putting myself in front of Virginia, thankful that I no longer feel that dusts effects anymore after that good sleep.

"And who are you? Her protector? Well fear not I will protect her from all the evils…. wait a second, have we met?" he asks, his eyes finally going from Virginia to me questioningly,

"No we have not, now get the hell out of here" I say, watching him for any sudden movements, but only seeing him bringing out a comb the table next to him, his eyes now solely focused on Virginia,

"Well….I know this is going to come out of the blue but, how about a date?" he asks but then a broom comes to my side, Virginia aiming it at the guy threateningly, but all he does is gasp, what the heck is wrong with this guy? Its like a game to him,

"We started badly, but I take all the blame for that" he saus then suddenly coming at us, but I duck us under him and go around him, turning in time to be looking at him again, I swear I heard him snarl what is up with this guy seriously its like he's an animal.

Surprisingly Virginia hits him in the face with the broom, making me smirk, but I grab another broom just to be safe that is by the table,

"Come on, give us a chance please, but then she hits him with the other end of the broom in his private area, this making me wince, that was a bit of a low blow,

"Oh! You are one dynamic lady, there's no question" he says, grunting and holding/protecting his area, I look to Virginia and she looks to me and we both nod, knowing what to do with him, we both whack him with the brooms, throwing him out the window.

We both go over to the window, seeing that he landed in a pile of trash bags, did I hear him howl when he fell, he must think he's a wolf or something.

I start to hear something else though, a mumbling?

"Virginia? Where's your grandmother?" I ask, she looks to me but then I see her eyes widen in realisation, we look in the cupboard by the door and then she goes into the kitchen, me coming in behind her and my eyes widen at the sight, her grandmother sat on the kitchen island atop a giant oven tray tied up with potatoes around her.

"Oh my god, grandmother!" says Virginia, the both of us kicking into gear and start to untie her, I carefully take the tape off her mouth,

"Oh thank goodness! Where is that man? He wanted to eat me and stick me in the oven!" she exclaims, I help her down along with Virginia, sitting her down in one of the chairs,

"Did he hurt you?" I ask, looking her over for injuries,

"No, I'm fine, I only let him in because he pretended to be your finace Virginia, he had your photograph and these beautiful flowers, oh I thought you had found a rich gem, but he only turned out to be a maniac" she says, I frown at this, and raise my eyebrow at Virginia to see her shake her head, frustrated of course,

"How about I make some tea and we can calm down" I say, seeing the grandmother nodding and Virginia doing the same, thankful I know that tea is the best way to calm the woman down no matter the situation.

Virginia comes over after taking her grandmother to her room to calm down more,

"Ok so, we have a dog that appears out of no-where, I have three adult kids, you have a guy who thinks he's an animal and in love with you, who also thinks he knows me. And tried to eat your grandmother. What next?" I ask, stirring the tea, not looking up, I'm dreading the thought that this could be to do with my lost memory, maybe I do know these people but how? I'm definitely not old enough to have kids at those threes age, and who knows how I would know that creep.

"I don't know, maybe Snow White might appear" says Virginia, I smile at that, remembering her telling me it was her favourite fairy-tale story, but then I jump when the dog barks at the kitchen doorway at us,

"What? Not a fan of Snow White? Fine I'll call the witch and she can take you away" I say, going back to the tea, but frowning when he whines almost hysterically and runs out of the room, I look to Virginia but she just shrugs, weird dog, and just when I was beginning to like him.


	8. Chapter 8

Daphne POV

We left after a little while when we knew that Virginia's grandmother was definitely fine, I even think she's starting to warm up to me. Virginia also spoke to me a little later where her grandmother couldn't hear us to tell me that apparently the guy from earlier was also after the dog, he must be a good breed or a celebrity or something to be wanted by so many people, but he is definitely causing us a lot of trouble.

We started walking around in the park, Virginia wanting to see if maybe the owner of the dog is nearby, thankfully we have the day off today from work, though I wouldn't be surprised if we don't have a job to go back to considering we ditched work last night. However finding the owner wasn't easy, we still haven't found anyone who claims to own the dog, so we've decided that for our own safeties that we have to leave the dog where we found him and hope that his owner will find him, I'm really against leaving a dog all on his own, but we don't really have much choice, we've had three strange people broken into our apartment and tried to hurt and kidnap us and of course the deranged creep who wanted to eat Virginias grandmother AND take Virginia out on a date, because that was going to happen ha!

"This is the exact spot where I found you so this is where we have to go our separate ways, ok?" says Virginia, but the dog barks at her as if in reply,

"Look I'm not the adventure type you know, I mean I'm a waitress, the same as Daphne, she's probably more adventurous then me even without the memory loss of her past, but between us we cannot take on anymore crazy that seems to be looking for you. It's just really… this isn't our thing, whoever these people are who want you, they can have you. No, goodbye I got to go" she says, trying to urge us away from the dog, but we hear the dog whining, and the suckers that we both are look behind us and see him looking both cute and upset, I look to Virginia and we both roll our eyes annoyed, indicating to the dog to come along.

"I need some water," I say, feeling a headache coming along, this dog just wont shut up! We've been looking for hours now and still no one is admitting to owning the dog, I'm half tempted to pay them to take the dog.

"Virginia will you please tell this dog to be quiet before I take him to the vet and make sure he can't teach his children how to make the same sound" I say, looking at the dog threateningly, he stops and whines at me for this, I roll my eyes at this, and not ten minutes later he starts barking again.

"Look, I cannot help you find where you came from because I don't know where you came from!" shouts Virginia, she herself getting annoyed with the dog,

"Ok look this is it, your on your own ok, good luck" she says, I walk with her away from the dog to only freeze with what I see in the distance,

"Virginia! Daphne!" shouts Tony who I see is running away from a LOT of policemen,

"Dad? Dad!" he shouts, the two of us leading him away into the bushes to hide where the dog still is,

"You won't believe what happened to me" he says, the three of us crouched down out of sight; I keep a look out for the police,

"Is that the dog that guy is after, well just give it to him" says Tony, hang on what guy?

"Dad, I don't think he is a dog," says Virginia, I look to her confused at this, when did she start thinking this?

"He's trying to say something, talk to me or something, but I cant understand what he's saying" says Virginia, I look back out to see if the police see us, not listening to the other two. But quickly nudge us away behind a tree when I see some coming near us,

"Why are all these cops after you, and why are you wearing handcuffs?" asks Virginia,

"They think I did a bank job" says Tony, I look to him surprise, that doesn't sound like the Tony I know, hearing Virginia is just as surprised but he'll explain later. The dog wonders off and Tony gets us to follow him, why are we following the dog?

"We're looking for a magic mirror" says Tony, I almost stop at this point, what did he just say? Has he lost it? Virginia, just as convinced but follow him anyway.

But as we go further I start to feel a little sick, great terrible timing. But they stop and when I get to them I look and see…what the heck is that? It looks like a shimmering wave in the forest – but why does that look so familiar, the colour, the sound I can hear from it…

"There they are!"

I look behind me in time to see three familiar faces, great this wont be good,

"Daphne come on!" shouts Virginia grabbing my arm and pulling me forward but I don't know why but as soon as we step a few more steps I see Tony disappearing and then as soon as we step forward…our surroundings completely change, and I collapse on the floor to my knees.

"Daphne? Are you alright?" asks Tony, I look up, my head feels like its about to explode, I can feel my body shaking, everywhere I look I can see… my dreams, a group of people stood at the end of this room, Relish and three children and a woman with…me, throwing me backwards, me gripping onto the edge of a mirror?

 _FlashBack_

" _Daphne!" shouts Relish, who I just see launching towards me, grabbing onto my hands, me feeling like I'm being sucked into a whirlpool within the mirror,_

" _Don't let go!" he shouts, I grab onto his wrists, feeling his leather wristband with our insignia carved onto the silver charm I stitched into it, him holding my wrists,_

" _Relish! Look after them! Please! I love you! They'll find me! They will!" I shout, knowing this force is so loud we have to or else fearing we wont hear one another for the last time,_

" _No! Just don't let go! I can't lose you!" he shouts, trying to pull me closer but only bringing him with me,_

" _You mustn't leave them Relish! They need their father! They're going to lose me to day, don't let them lose you too. We will be together again my love! We will" I shout, he launches a bit closer and kisses me, I kiss him back, feeling our tears merging together,_

" _I love you! I always have and always will" he says, I nod at this, but then feeling the mirror using more strength to pull me further in, and without warning it pulls me out of Relishes grip, the only thing I see as I'm sucked in is his look of fear and pain, I try to reach for him but when I feel entirely within the mirror I feel and see and remember…. nothing_

 _Flashback over_

"I'm seeing my dreams," I say, after seeing that dream that was a dream I had only a few days ago before the one where my dream self met Relish.

"Ok Daphne come on, we have to follow the dog" says Tony, Virginia helping me up, thankfully I have enough strength in my legs, I swear I feel like I'm in my dreams in this place, coming into a room with stairs and a door further in,

"Which way?" asks Tony, the dog seeming to look around as if confused,

"Upstairs" I say, seeing the three looking at me confused as to how I would know,

"I swear I feel like I know this place guys – in my dreams, and a way to get out is upstairs, down there is just another storage room" I say, frowning at my headache, closing my eyes from the pain, and feeling us walking further and up the stairs, why are they listening to me? There is no way this can be the right way, I mean its just dreams.

"What happened to everybody?" asks Tony, as me and Virginia come into another room, looks like the mess hall from my dream when I was inside the prison, this room was where I had meals with the other criminals its so strange to be in a place that I have only ever dreamed of to find its actually a real place and we're in it!

I look around some more to see all the men asleep with that pink powder around them, looks like the guards,

"Looks like it's starting to wear off" says Tony, who I see talking to the dog again,

"Is that dog talking again?" asks Virginia, I look to her at my side then back to Tony, can Tony all of a sudden speak dog? Tony nods in answer to her and they lead us through the mess hall,

"Dad, lets go home," says Virginia, I nod at this, this place is too weird,

"N-no I cant go back yet, the police are swarming all over central park looking for me!" he says desperately, ok I can understand that logic,

"Well we cant stay here!" says Virginia, this I also agree with, but suddenly I hear familiar noises, we all look to one another then quickly hide, me and Virginia going under a table, hopefully they wont see us,

"She must have come through here with those others! We searched all over those fields and couldn't find her, she couldn't have used her magic to escape there either, she has to be here!" shouts Blabberwort, who I see with the other three walking into the room, I see them look around the room, but not under the tables, I dread to think of how they became that daft as to when they're looking for someone to look EVERYWHERE especially in places they can hide in.

"We'll have to be quick or else we'll get caught by the guards and dad can't spring us out this time" says Burly, the three of them walking off out of the room. After a few minutes to make sure they're gone the dog and us gets out from the tables

"Huh? No – no hold on a second hold on we're not going to follow you, where are we?" says Tony, who I see looks to be talking to the dog again,

The dog then goes onto the table, sitting up, looking at Tony almost directly, Virginia helps me up and after I find my legs I nod at her to indicate I'm fine, the both of us walking over to the map on the wall…No way! The nine kingdoms!? This has got to be a joke.

"I'm Tony Lewis – Janitor, and I think you've already met my daughter Virginia and our friend Daphne," says Tony, I look to him, then the dog, then back to the map,

"Troll kingdom" says Virginia, I frown and look at where she's looking, my eyes widening, the drawing of the kingdom looking so familiar to me, as well as this whole map, I feel like I've gone to this whole place myself, recognising the stream, the ocean, the woods – everything!

"Wait hold on a second, is this like Cinderella? Sleeping Beauty – fairy tale stuff?" asks Tony, I look to him then the dog, is it actually possible that he is talking to the dog?

"Sounds like my mother in law" says Tony, I smirk at this, imagining him insulting her in one way or another with whatever the dog has said, great now I'm accepting that Tony is in fact talking to the dog,

"Virginia? Daphne, the dog's said to follow him" says Tony, me looking at the map again, I look to Virginia and we follow after Tony who is following after the dog.

This should be fun – not!


	9. Chapter 9

Daphne POV

"Virginia, please tell me now if this whole thing is a set up, because if I wasn't already freaked out before, then I definitely am now" I say, looking at this place, the cells! I only dreamed about escaping this place the other night and now I am here! We even went past the window I jumped out of, though this one I can see they have put bars over.

"Daphne this isn't a set up I promise, I've never been to this place before in my life or know it at all. But it looks a lot like how you described your dreams" says Virginia looking to me curiously, her eyes taking in the place as well, I see Tony suddenly stop at a corner in front of us,

"Daphne, that's the corridor…with the door to that cell – from your picture where you dreamed you were locked up" says Tony, I look to him, walking over to stand beside him and follow his gaze seeing a small corridor leading towards a cell door. I can feel tears falling down my cheeks, seeing the sign to my left 'Maximum Securty.' This was definitely the place where my dream self was locked up in.

The dog suddenly stops beside me and looks up at me, whining slightly,

"Would I be crazy…could it be possible that my dreams…weren't dreams?" I ask, looking behind me at Tony and Virginia, looking at them in fear, they look at me confused at this but Virginia comes over to me, Tony following, I look back to the corridor and slowly walk towards the cell, seeing the signs up on the walls, "no food beyond this point" and more of "no communication with the prisoner" and then a basket at the bottom, "No food beyond this point," every one of these I knew were there before I even looked, not even having to read them properly.

My heart beating fiercely in my chest as I step into the cell, seeing the bed, the small window, all of this I remember so clearly, but it shouldn't be here! They were just dreams!

I sniffle the cry I stop from coming out, this isn't possible - this should be impossible! But I'm in here and all the dreams…or possible memories are coming back full force, forcing me to close my eyes, my head - ache getting worse.

"The witch that turned him into a dog was in this cell, swapped the body of her normal dog that was in here for the prince" says Tony, I can only guess telling us whatever the dog is saying, though if I'm going along with this I might as well call him his real name, prince Wendell, as we learned after leaving the dining area,

"I'm just going to step outside, this cell is…too much, like the rest of this place" I say walking out of the room, feeling worse the longer I'm in here, like a dark mist trying to take over my body. But as soon as I step out I silently shriek when a hand covers my mouth and that dust is the last thing I see.

No POV

"I'm just going to step outside, keep an eye on Daphne" says Virginia, walking out of the cell, worried for her friend, all of this can't be a co-incidence, but it was far too weird to think that her best friend could possibly be from this place, could it?

But as she walks out of the cell, after regaining her composure slightly, not only wanting to see if Daphne was ok, but wanting to get out of that cell for how it made her feel, weak and strange, but without warning the pink dust is thrown at her, and within a second she collapses to the floor, the trolls not caring as much for her as they did with Daphne, Blabberwort catching her in her arms before she fell after Bluebell used the dust on her, none of them really wanting to use it on her but not having much choice as they didn't last time, all knowing that they needed to get her away from the humans and get her home.

Quickly they slammed the cell door closed, locking the latch so the male couldn't get out, not really focusing on the dog anymore, not when their minds are on their newly found mother, ignoring the shouts of the man, Burly picked up the female human, thinking the possibility of using her as leverage for the dog later, but knowing that they needed to get out as soon as possible.

"Told you it would work" says Blabberwort as they finally exit the fortress, going towards the lake, her and her sibling's mother in her arms, she had forgotten what she had looked like, but then the last time she remembered seeing her beloved mother in the flesh was when she was being ripped away from them from their own fathers hands into a magic mirror.

She had realised the possibility of finding their mother when first seeing the mirror before entering the world, but didn't want to raise hope to her siblings, hoping to find the dog first and then open the idea to them. But fortune shined on them and now they finally found her as the witch had said they would.

"Yeah but I don't want to hear dad having a go at us for using the magic dust it against her" says Burly, the human woman Virginia over her shoulder,

"Once he knows why we used it I'm sure he wont be as angry, heck it might even be possible that he wont be angry at all once he sees her" says Bluebell, Blabberwort nodding in agreement.

The three of them proceeding to a boat, flipping the owner into the lake and taking the boat, Burly putting the human woman down on some netting at the back of the boat unceremoniously, but not needing to worry so much as she would not awaken for a good many hours, whereas their mother they knew they needed to be more careful with, not just due to the fact that their mother was the one who created the sleeping dust in the first place, they remembered her having a resistance to it so knew they couldn't jostle her about too much or be as careless as they were with the human as she would awaken quicker, but they would never be as careless with their own mother.

For as brutish as they were as trolls, their love for their mother was unbreakable, especially after such a long period of absence from her, them being instinctively more protective with her.

"Did dad say anything about what she would be like after coming back here? He said she would lose all memories of us in that other world, and we saw that when she saw us there, do you think she'll ever remember us?" asks Burly, the two elder troll siblings looking at each other not knowing what to say, Burly was three years younger then them and was very young when their mother was taken from them.

"He never said Burly, but maybe she'll remember more when we take her home, when she recognises the place, and maybe she'll remember as well when she sees dad" says Blabberwort, she who placed their mother down on a blanket she took off another boat before they set off for their mother to lie down on in front of the boat, this way she and the others could keep an eye on her.

"She doesn't look much different then I remember, or from the paintings" says Bluebell, his eyes going from in front of them where he was sit next to Burly where they rowed the boat, not far from the wall now separating the kingdoms.

"Magic I bet" says Blabberwort, them all using as much strength as they could to get them closer to their home as possible, their hands aching already but none of them complaining.

"How is she?" asks Burly, him at the back, his eyes always going to his mother every now and again, he may be the oldest and always showed strength for his younger siblings, but even when he was young he looked up to his mother, loved her more then anything else in the world.

 _Flashback:_

" _Burly!" his head shot up from where he was in the library, lying on his stomach on a fur rug on the floor with a book in front of him, he quickly put the book away on the shelf just in time to see his mother walking in, wearing a thick cotton blue dress going down to the floor, her feet bare as he was used to her not wearing shoes, wearing the family crest on her leather wrist strap on her right wrist._

 _His eyes going down to her ever-growing stomach where his sibling was within, he hoped it was a boy so that he could play with swords with them,_

" _Burly what are you doing in here dear? Your father has been looking for you, we were worried" she says, the care and love for her son ever displayed in her eyes, he instantly felt guilty for making her worry,_

" _I'm sorry mother. I was just reading a – a book of sword fighting" he says, not wanting to reveal what he was truly reading, but he sees the raise of her eyebrow knowing she didn't fall for it, she knew her son well enough to know when he was trying to hide things, and without a word raised her arm waving it sideways to the shelves, he dropped his shoulders knowing that he would be found out,_

" _Horse breeds, Burly I didn't know you took interest in different breeds of horses," she says after reading title, looking at her son curiously, not angry but keen to know what peaked her sons interest,_

" _I – I like them, and I've seen a lot of different ones, I just wanted to know…why they were so different, there are lots of kinds mother" he says, she smiles at this, indicating for them to go to the desk that was near them,_

" _Show me which ones you like," she says, waving the book over to them, resting soundlessly on the desk in front of them, sighing happily when she sat down on the chair, taking the weight off her feet._

 _Instantly Burly ran over to the chair beside her, kneeling on it so at the correct height where he could reach the book, his heart fluttering with delight at the prospect of showing his mother the knowledge he had learned from the book._

 _End Flashback_

After that his mother always encouraged him with his passion for horses, encouraged him to breed them, he was later the best in the kingdom to breed horses. The proudest moment was when he helped a mare birth a pure white fowl and he gifted the fowl to his mother as a present for the day of her birth.

"She's fine, still sleeping, as long as we don't do anything too sudden with her, jostle her or anything then she should stay asleep" says Blabberwort. The time seeming to go by quick in the day as they finally approached a dock where they acquired a horse and cart, they were thankful that it was covered in fur rugs, placing their mother on next to the human woman.

It wasn't long before they were on the road to their home, all three of them imagining the looks on their fathers face when he is told of the return of their mother, seeing her for the first time in fifteen years. Burly seemed to be bursting to bring his parents together as the other two were when he was encouraging the horse to go faster, but keeping an eye out for pot holes that may cause the cart to jostle, he was already cringing whenever it was lightly jostling, worried that it would wake his mother, but knowing that Bluebell was keeping an eye on her and the human while he drove.

He looked around the place, seeing the state it was in, his father and mother used to keep it more lush and pleasing to the eye, this very field his father gave to their mother as a wedding gift, where there were flowers all over the place, in remembrance from when they would court and he would bring her here for walks, his father told them that they would talk for so long that they started in the morning and no time at all the day would end with them lying on the grass looking up at the stars. His father's behaviour with his mother was different then trolls usually were when courting their love interest. But the trolls of the court and kingdom would all see the love between him and his mother and never doubted them, they strengthened one another, together they were an ultimate force, protectors of their kingdom, none of the other realms would dare try to invade, when they tried they were put in their place.

But after some years of their mothers absence, his father cared less of the fields, he never even went there anymore, Burly suspected that it brought too many painful memories to him, so he took it upon himself to take his siblings there, telling them about their mother that they didn't remember, Blabberwort remembered almost as much as he did as she was only four years younger then himself, but Blabberwort was only four years of age himself when mother was taken, so in her memory both he and Blabberwort took him to the fields and told him about her, from memories and stories that she and their father told and their own. They all felt in a strange way connected to her there in the field, as if her spirit was there with them.

"Hey she's waking up! Good morning" says Bluebell, Burly suspecting that he'd be talking about the human woman, knowing that Bluebell would make up a bigger fuss if it were their mother that had begun to awaken.

"Get over here!" shouts Blabberwort to a guard that approaches them from the fortress after they stopped, the guard taking the horses reins, allowing the princes and princess to get off the cart.

"Bluebell, get the human, I'll get mother" says Burly, carefully taking his mother in his arms, relieved that she hadn't woken, still not too sure what to do if she woke up.

"What do we do if she wakes up? She could try to escape" says Blabberwort, looking at her older brother worriedly in the eye, Bluebell looking to them while holding the human woman over his shoulder, the human having gone back to sleep, an effect of the dust, sometimes the victims wake up for a few seconds but go back to sleep, this giving them a warning of an hour before their victims would wake up fully, a safe-guard their mother implemented when creating the dust.

"I don't know, maybe we should lock her in dads room?" Burly says, the only idea he can come up with, not comfortable with the idea of locking her in the straps like they were going to with the human for interrogation, not to mention it may not put them in good favour if their mother had befriended this woman like they believed from the way she protected the girl in their building in the other world.

"You get her in the chair, I'll take her to dads room" Burly says to his siblings after they got inside, the two nodding in agreement, the three separating ways, Burly ever careful with how he carried his mother, it not taking too long to get to his fathers bed chamber, using his foot to open the door, quickly checking in case his father was inside, but upon not seeing any trace to say his father was within, he walked inside, and as gentle as possible, placed his mother on the furs on top of the bed, carefully pulling a throw over her, wanting to make sure she keeps warm.

Quietly he leaves the room, locking it with a latch,

"Guard! No-one but my father or my siblings and myself are to go inside there, and do not let her out no matter what she says" Burly ordered a guard who was stood in the corridor, the guard accepting this task and stood by the door to the kinds bed chambers, not questioning the princes orders.


	10. Chapter 10

Relish POV

It didn't take long to get from the prison to my castle; it gave time to think of how I will rule with half of Wendell's kingdom that the queen promised me.

My children are late, should have been back yesterday but neither myself or the queen could stay near the prison any longer without the risk of getting caught, with some luck I wont have to go back and rescue them AGAIN.

What would Daphne think of all this? She wouldn't trust the witch, neither do I, but if she were here none of this would have happened, our children would hardly get caught and we wouldn't need the queen either.

Just thinking of my missing queen makes me angry, it has been too long, my aching heart feels like stone in my chest, the only love I have is for my children, thinking of my queen only brings pain.

I hear commotion coming from one of the rooms, where I keep my beloved shoes and where we bring our victims to torture, they must be inside torturing someone.

I open the doors seeing the three of them with what I just about see is a human woman. I close the doors behind me,

"Dad? Why don't you take off the shoes?" says Bluebell, I snarl at the thought of taking my precious shoes off, the last gift I was given from my queen, she had worked a whole year to make these for me as a gift for my day of birth, they were a prized gem throughout the kingdoms, all wanted them, there was no other like them nor would there be. But they did come with the price, addictiveness, but at the same time it's the only way I can feel close to my love besides my children.

"With these shoes I am all powerful, I could rule the world" I say, as I reveal my hidden collection of shoes, starting to feel the effects of the shoes, she warned me when she first gave them to me that they would be addictive the more times I wore them, make me feel drunk with power but she knew I could handle them in small doses, however over the years I wore them more after she was taken to me, more than I should have really.

"Come on dad, just slip them off" Burly asks, I finally slip them off, hearing the concern in my eldest voice, but feeling like I just lost a great weight off me, feeling almost as if I will fall backwards but feel the hands of my children keeping me steady, but after I straighten up I subtly nod my thanks to them, picking up the magic shoes and putting them on their pedestal in front of the other shoes.

"Where have you been? You're a day late!" I shout, after turning to look at them all, seeing them look to one another trying to think of an excuse from the looks of it,

"Who's this? You were supposed to bring back the dog," I say, stepping towards the human, but her clothes are strange, nothing I've ever seen before,

"Forget the dog dad" says Burly, bringing the chair upright along with the girl,

"We've discovered another kingdom," he says I frown at him for this, another kingdom what have they been sniffing this time?

"The mythical tenth kingdom" says Blabberwort,

"Talked of, only in myth" says Burly,

"Don't talk rubbish there is no tenth kingdom" I say, seeing Burly walking around the human, his interest not in the woman, walking over towards his siblings,

"But there is! Dad we were chasing the dog and ended up going through a magic mirror after him, and it took us there! Leading us to this witch who had the dog" says Blabberwort, looking like she believes in what she is talking about, the other two nodding in agreement, but when she mentions a magic mirror I cant help but pause, no-one has dared mention a magic mirror to me in a long time,

"Dad, we know you probably wont believe us, but this witch isn't the only one we found there" says Burly, my eyes looking to him, my eyes look at them all, an almost tense air coming over us all, they couldn't be about to say…no I don't dare hope.

"Dad, we found her," says Bluebell, my eyes looking to him, my posture still, I don't dare breath, fearing this to be my imagination, or a dream,

"Dad?" says Blabberwort, presumably from my frozen stance,

"Y-you found…you found her? Well where is she?!" I ask, looking at them all fiercely, if they found her then why isn't she here?

"Dad listen, she doesn't remember us, we had to use the dust to get her here, there was no other way" says Blabberwort, my eyes landing on her for this, I don't know whether to whip them for ever talking about using the sleeping dust on their mother or to demand further of where she is.

"Wait, are you talking about Daphne?"

I freeze at this, my back straighter than its ever been in years, not hearing that name in so long, I practically demanded no one speak it unless of her return. I turn to look at the witch in the chair, her looking at us all confused but still with fear, good,

"How do you know her? Speak!" I shout, needing to know as much as possible, the back of my head telling me I need to know as much as possible, the witch had told me that there would be difficulties with her return, and if my children are correct and she doesn't remember us then that must be what she spoke of, but if I can learn enough from this witch then I can help my beloved, my heart beating quick in my chest needing answers as soon as possible so I can re-unite with my queen as quickly as possible.

When I see that the witch isn't going to talk, I snarl at her angrily, seeing her jump at this, then coming up with a solution, seeing that she wont give me answers easily, taking in a deep breath I exhale calming my anger a little,

"You will dance for me. And when you finish dancing, you will tell me everything you know about my queen" I say, walking away from her, getting the iron shoes from where they are kept,

"Look I'm not going to tell you anything about my friend, not after everything we've been through I wouldn't betray her like that, and anyway I cant dance so touch luck" she says, I grin at this wickedly, I show her the shoes,

"You will dance for me in these" I say, seeing her confused look, then I turn and put them on the metal railing over the fire.

"Send word to me when they are red. Do not fear my children, I am proud of you," I say, looking to them, seeing them sigh relieved, they did their job that was put on their shoulders by the witch.

"Where is she?" I ask, looking to them in question,

"I put her in your room dad" says Burly I nod at this,

"Wait! Is your name Relish?" asks the girl, I stop again before I reach the doors, turning to look at her,

"I am Relish, king of the Troll kingdom. How is it you know my name?" I ask, but then remembering that she is a witch, she could have read my thoughts and found them there,

"D-Daphne, she spoke of you, from her dreams" she says, I frown at this, she dreamed of me?

"Her dreams?" asks Bluebell, who I see looking to the witch confused,

"Ever since we found her, she would dream about…kingdoms and prisons, of a troll kingdom, someone named Relish and a lot of other things, she's tell me all about them like a story" she says, I narrow my eyes at this,

"You're her friend, you looked after her when you found her?" I ask, if she answers correctly she may yet live and with her feet unharmed,

"Yes, we let her live with us for those five years, she became a good friend to my father and I" she says warily, I watch her carefully when she says this, she appears to be speaking the truth, and learning that she took in my love, cared for her, then I am indebted to her.

"Release her," I say, seeing Burly without hesitation doing this, assuming they also feel grateful for what the witch has done for their mother,

"My children will escort you our of my castle, after that your on your own to do with as you will, I have given you your life in return for taking care of my queen" I say, she nods at this, taking her shoes and a strange looking bag, then leaves with the children.

I quietly walk after them out of the room but going another way to my chambers, my heart racing at the thought of seeing her, finally seeing her for the first time in fifteen years.

I see one of my guards in front of my bed chambers doors, when he sees me he steps aside, unlatching the door for me, after this I walk into the room, looking around, walking thought he small seating area before reaching where my bed is.

But to freeze, seeing no one there. Was this a trick! Did that witch cast a spell on my children?!

"I don't know who you are but you had better give me a good reason as to why I am here!"

That voice…

I turn slowly first seeing the shine of one of my axes, then my eyes going down to the person holding it behind their head, only for our eyes to meet, and there are the eyes I have been searching for over fifteen years.

"No…this is just another damn dream" she mutters, closing her eyes in annoyance, not seeming to hear me walk closer to her, but as soon she opens her eyes she quickly tries to back away from me when realising I am right in front of her, about to use the axe on me but I catch it in my hand easily, my eyes never leaving her.

She struggles trying to take the axe back, she must not have found her magic yet, otherwise if she did know of them already she would have used it by now,

"Get away from me!" she cries, letting go of the axe, but I quickly throw it away, watching her back away towards the window, her back hitting the ledge of the window opening, my eyes watching her warily not wanting her to hurt herself, ,

"This isn't a dream Daphne," I say, slowly walking towards her, but she shakes her head in denial, tears starting to fall down her cheeks,

"It's the only thing that makes sense! There's no such thing as the ten kingdoms, nor do trolls exist, I don't belong here! And you don't exist nor does this place, its just another dre – Ahh!" but my eyes widen when she unconsciously goes backwards only to fall backwards out of the window, but not letting this happen I run forward and catch her arms, looking down at her hanging out of the window, using my strength to keep her from falling, her cries of panic there looking down at the fall she was about to make,

"Daphne!" I shout, her head coming up to me, then her eyes meeting mine as if in a trance,

"I wont lose you again! Not again!" I yell, then using my strength I pull her up, catching her elbows as I bring her more towards me, until my arms are around her hips, feeling her arms around my neck in a death grip and I bring her over the windowsill, walking us away from there and back into the room, hearing her crying.

I carry her over to the bed and sit us down, her face coming out from my shoulder, to see her eyes meet mine,

"Relish?"

I smile at her for this, hearing her same my name,

"Its not a dream, they never were dreams, they really were memories" she says, I nod in confirmation, somehow her mind was able to transfer her memories into her dreams in the other kingdom on the other side of the magic mirror.

"Your home Daphne, my love" I say, she cries at this then launches herself at me, instinctively catching her and wrapping my arms around her, never wanting to let go, and never intending n letting her out of my sight again,

"It really is you…I cant believe it, I keep seeing both memories of here and of the other place…I was so confused for so long, but now the gaps just fit together!" she says, leaning back to look at me, me looking at her, she hasn't aged much, but I fear she will see a little age with me but not by much, us trolls don't age as quickly as humans, not that she is completely human anyway.

My hand strokes up to her cheek, feeling her skin, memorising her – really believed that she is truly here in front of me. She leans it into my hand, I stroke her tears away, never did like to see her cry.

"I always knew you would come back, I have missed you so much you will never know" I say, feeling a tear or two escape me,

"On some level I missed you as well, whenever I woke up I always felt a pain in my chest, I felt like I was being ripped away from you at the same time as waking up, leaving you in my dreams. I was so scared when I came here that it was all a dream and that I would wake up again" she says, I nod at this, understanding her reasoning.

"Your back now my love, my queen. And I will do whatever it takes to keep you with me for the rest of our lives" I say, she smiles at this and wraps her arms around my neck, myself wrapping my arms around her.

"Children – where are the children?" she asks, breaking the hug, I smile at her for this; standing up and helping her stand up.

"Lets get you cleaned up first" I say, she nods at this in agreement, I go to a wooden chest on the other side of the room and open it, its dusty on the outside but the inside is still clean from not having opened it in years, I bring out the first thing my hand lays on. Bringing out a deep blue dress holding it up to her, seeing her look at it and smile,

"Oh yes, I'm home" she says, and just to make it more apparent that she is home, she holds her hand up and suddenly I see a ball of fire appear, I smirk at this,

"Yes you are," I say, she grins at me for this,

"And I'm going to make that witch pay for what she did" she says, her gaze darkening with a promise of vengeance, I nod at this in agreement. I help her out of her clothes, faintly stroking the bare flesh of her arms and her back, never thinking that I would ever feel such beautiful skin again.

Then helping her into her dress, hearing her sigh at the feel of it, my fingers tightening the back corset laces to tighten it slightly for it, and after this I lead her out, smirking when I see that she didn't put any shoes on, my queen is truly back.


End file.
